Houston Chronicle/Justice: Luck changes with scenery for Hawkins

When the Yankees released him last July, LaTroy Hawkins didn’t waste time feeling sorry for himself.

Instead, he went to work trying to put his career back together. Instead of going home to Dallas to catch his breath or reflect on what had happened, he flew to Fort Wayne, Ind .

That’s where he hooked up with his agent, Matt Kinzer. Actually, Kinzer is more than an agent. He’s a former major league pitcher and scout, and through the years has become the person who knows Hawkins as well as anyone.

“Matt watches me like a hawk,” Hawkins said. “He knows everything I do. Even when I have a good outing, he’ll call or text me if he saw something. His mentality for pitching and the way he can explain it is unbelievable.”

...

Along the way, two interesting things happened. One is that Hawkins gradually regained the ability to locate his fastball.

The other is that Astros general manager Ed Wade telephoned and said he’d acquired Hawkins in a trade.

“I was like, ‘Wow,’ ” Hawkins said. “At first, I’m thinking, ‘Why would they do that when they can get me in a few more days for little or nothing?’ ”

plus, As luck would have it, Francoeur without ‘turkey underwear’

Ex-Tiger Pudge Rodriguez on a mission to get 3,000 hits

And he’s already at exact final year Biggio-ugly level. This should be fun!

.254/.285
.251/.285

“That’s a goal,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not that far away—300-something hits away. I can do that.”

He needs 342 hits to reach 3,000. That’s a few seasons’ worth, presuming he continues to play regularly.

“A lot,” he said, asked how many more years he wants to play. “I love what I do, and if you love what you do, you play the game a long time. Physically and mentally, I feel great.”

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said: “Without a doubt, Pudge is on a mission to get 3,000 hits. It wouldn’t surprise me if he does.”

Rodriguez looks in terrific shape, as always. He is on a one-year contract with Houston. Judging by the two men he just overtook atop the list of games caught, he could play many more years.

Houston Chronicle: Cooper defends small-ball call

One day after Cecil Cooper’s much-debated decision not to bunt with Ivan Rodriguez in the ninth inning of the opener against the Royals, Cooper defended his call, and Lance Berkman defended his manager while disagreeing with the decision.

Rodriguez came up with men on first and second, nobody out and a one-run deficit. He struck out for the first out and was followed by Kaz Matsui, who struck out, and Jason Michaels, who ended the game with a soft grounder back to the pitcher.

“If I was managing the team, I would have tried to bunt in that situation just because they had their closer (Joakim Soria), and it’s going to be tough to get anything done,” said Berkman, who nonetheless understood the source of Cooper’s logic.

“I don’t think people should be outraged and think that it’s indefensible that we didn’t bunt,” Berkman said. “ That’s the beauty of baseball; there’s no right answer. Heck, if (Rodriguez) singles and I go first-to-third, Coop’s a genius.”

Houstonist: Interview: Roger Clemens

Woo-hoo..."big fat mess”.

You have stated that you never took HGH. However, your wife has admitted she took HGH and that that drug was provided by Brian McNamee. Are you saying that he was an adviser of yours and you let him give your wife a performance enhancing drug that you have never taken?

First, I did not “let” Brian McNamee inject my wife. As I stated in the congressional deposition, I was not at home when the incident took place. All you have to do is read — just go to the congressional website and spend some time reading.

Why do you believe that Mr. McNamee brought these allegations against you?

I believe I do know why he made the allegations, but I am holding on to that due to ongoing litigation.

From your perspective, please describe what a realistic, positive ending to this story would be. And, if I may follow up, what actions are you taking to see that this comes to pass?

Well, I’m hoping to be able to clear my name. If I’m given the opportunity, at least I’ll know I’ve done everything I could. All I can do is try to work through the legal system.

Justice: Carlos Lee loafed, and I’m not feeling so good myself

Wiping away the cloudy veil of mescahemp...I seem to remember booking The Carlos Lee Loafed at KNUP’S.

Carlos Lee loafed on an infielder grounder in the 10th inning. He presumed it was a routine out to the shortstop, but the ball was bobbled and Lee was caught looking bad.

(Good thing Pudge got that milestone when he did because it doesn’t look like there’s much left in the tank. He’s hitting about .150 this month and has had just one extra base hit. Poor guy. He may need a little pick-me-up from his old buddy Jose Canseco, who says he introduced Pudge to steroids a long, long time ago. Remember the Astros got him when Scott Boras called Drayton McLane. And then they got the baseball people involved. Nice way to run a railroad.)

This play wasn’t the worst thing that happened to the Astros Wednesday night in Arlington. There were again runners thrown out on the bases, errors, etc. If you care about the Astros, this should be an energizing time. Every ugly loss loves the franchise closer to the reckoning day that’s coming.

There may be days when the people in charge still convince themselves that everything is going to be OK, but mostly they seem to know it’s time for a course correction.

Ivan Rodriguez set to break catching record against old team

Half the career of Ivan Rodriguez.

That’s all Texas Rangers starting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is hoping for.

If all goes as planned after tonight’s start against the Rangers, half the career of the Houston catcher would be more than 1,100 games caught.

Rodriguez tied Carlton Fisk for most games caught with 2,226 on Tuesday night. He’s in line to break the record tonight.

Rodriguez will get to do it against the club for whom he played for 12 seasons and started what is sure to be a Hall of Fame career.

Deadspin: Craggs: It Wasn’t So, Joe (Morgan)

He’s gainin’ on you so you better look alive.

Go Speed Tracer
Go Speed Tracer
Go Speed Tracer, Go!

Top of the eighth. Cliff Lee has just given up his first hit of the game to the Cardinals, a double to right. Up in the booth, Joe Morgan decides to tell a story. You know where this is going.

From Sunday’s game, here he is, verbatim:

“I guess I can tell this story now, one of my great experiences when I was a young player. Don Wilson was pitching a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves. They had Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty, Felipe Alou and Hank Aaron, of course. And they got to the ninth inning, he got two outs, no one on base, and Hank Aaron was the hitter. And in my infinite wisdom, I ran in to the mound. I said, “You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Hank Aaron walked right here. He said, “Get back to second base.” I proceeded to go back to second base. He threw three fastballs right by Hank Aaron. No-hitter.”

Charming, right? And, alas, very likely an utter crock. This would’ve been June 18, 1967, Joe’s third full season in the bigs. That Braves team did indeed feature Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou and Rico Carty — though not Cepeda, who was in St. Louis that year. And Wilson did indeed throw a no-hitter, striking out Aaron to end the game. None of that’s the problem. The problem, as a tipster points out, is that Joe Morgan wasn’t playing that day. Look at the box score. The Astros’ second baseman was Julio Gotay. Morgan, who was probably hurt, hadn’t played since June 3. He would pinch-hit the next two games, then return to the lineup June 21.

Now, Joe may well have said something to Don Wilson in the dugout, in which case he was merely indulging in a little poetic license last night. But given baseball’s time-honored superstition about talking to pitchers during a no-hitter, not to mention the fact that Joe has told some stretchers before, I’m loath to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Original Colt .45 Hal Woodeshick passes

Hal Woodeshick: Indisposable.

In the past several years, the Astros family has lost quite a few stars from past generations, and sadly, on Sunday, it lost one of its founding fathers. Left-hander Hal Woodeshick, a member of the original Colt .45s, passed away at the age of 76 after a lengthy illness.

Woodeshick not only was a member of Houston’s very first Major League team, he was also with the club when it became the Astros and moved into the Astrodome in 1965. He pitched 3 1/2 years with Houston as part of an 11-year Major League career, during which he compiled a 44-62 record and a 3.56 ERA over 427 games (62 starts).

Woodeshick, considered Houston’s first real closer, made one All-Star appearance in 1963, his second season with the Colt .45s. He was 11-9 with a 1.97 ERA over 55 relief appearances that year, and he logged 10 saves.

The next season, Woodeshick recorded a career-high 23 saves while compiling a 2.76 ERA. He was traded to the Cardinals in the middle of the 1965 season and made his only World Series appearance in 1967 with St. Louis, pitching one inning in relief against the Red Sox.

Houston Chronicle: Berkman,Tejada put milestones to good use

Not long after Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman collected milestones to help reward Roy Oswalt’s perseverance, the Arizona Diamondbacks threatened to tarnish the Astros’ special performances Saturday night.

Arizona jumped on reliever Chris Sampson for three runs in the eighth inning at Chase Field, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the pair of three-run rallies the Astros had on a night Berkman collected his 300th home run and Tejada got his 2,000th career hit.

Although Oswalt pitched seven strong innings of one-run ball, the Astros needed five relievers over the final two innings to win 6-4 before a crowd of 29,206.

“It’s obviously a milestone homer, and I take pride in it for sure because there’s not a whole lot of switch-hitters that have gotten to that level,” Berkman said after becoming just the seventh switch-hitter in history to collect 300 home runs. “It’s not like 500 homers, but I’ll certainly take it.”

Houston Chronicle: Minute Maid Park alcohol seller could lose a license

The company that sells alcoholic beverages at Minute Maid Park could lose one of its state licenses at the stadium because of an incident last summer in which an allegedly drunken driver leaving an Astros game hit and killed a pedestrian.

Catering giant Aramark, which holds the ballpark’s concessions contract, faces an administrative hearing because of allegations that it sold or delivered alcohol to an intoxicated person, according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Cancellation of the permit is the standard penalty for a case this severe, said TABC Capt. Rick Cruz. A date for the hearing has not been set.

The possible permit revocation does not mean that the ballpark suddenly will go dry. Aramark has two licenses and only one is in jeopardy, the TABC said. The agency did not say which permit — beer or liquor — is involved. The two permits cover different parts of the ballpark and different types of beverages, the agency said.

NBC Sports/Gleeman: Cardinals interested in Miguel Tejada?

On the heels of manager Tony La Russa saying last week that the Cardinals need to find a big bat to hit behind Albert Pujols, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team is interested in Miguel Tejada.

Tejada would be an interesting pickup on a few different levels. First and foremost he’s leading the league with a .355 batting average and hitting .355/.378/.521 overall, so that would seemingly fit La Russa’s description of a big bat even if the 35-year-old is highly unlikely to keep up that type of production.

Guys like Matt Holliday have also been linked to St. Louis recently, but the Cardinals have received little production from the left side of the infield and finding a hitter like Tejada who can man shortstop or third base would allow them to keep their better-hitting outfielders in the lineup as well.

With that said, Tejada to the Cardinals isn’t quite a perfect fit. For one thing, Khalil Greene is making his way back from anxiety problems and should be ready to rejoin the team soon. Plus, Tejada’s defense at shortstop has declined to the point that he’s somewhere between “solidly below average for the position” and “terrible.”

plus, Molson cutting off free beer supply for retirees

NBC Sports/Calcaterra: The Astros are gouging their fans

As Major League Baseball does all it can to get recession-strapped fans through the turnstiles, a day at 29 of 30 MLB ballparks includes the option of bringing your own sandwiches, snacks, bottled water, soft drinks or, in some cases, all of the above. That leaves the Astros, and their stance on the matter is stated in their A-to-Z fan guide for Minute Maid Park.

“Visitors may not bring food or beverage items into the ballpark,” it says.

I was shocked to read that the Astros are the only club that does not allow outside food. I was even more shocked at how pathetic the Astros’ justifications for this policy truly are. Owner Drayton McClane says that banning outside food at Astros games “has been kind of a tradition in Houston.” Yeah, it would take someone with some real power to change such a beloved and time-honored tradition like that. Someone like, oh, I don’t know, THE TEAM’S OWNER.

Those who buy peanuts and Cracker Jack outside Minute Maid Park can’t bring them in

As Major League Baseball does all it can to get recession-strapped fans through the turnstiles, a day at 29 of 30 MLB ballparks includes the option of bringing your own sandwiches, snacks, bottled water, soft drinks or, in some cases, all of the above.

That leaves the Astros, and their stance on the matter is stated in their A-to-Z fan guide for Minute Maid Park.

“Visitors may not bring food or beverage items into the ballpark,” it says.

Banning outside food at Astros games “has been kind of a tradition in Houston,” said Astros owner Drayton McLane, who purchased the team in 1992.

You can take away my inexpensive bottled water, but you can never take away my FREEEEEEEEDOM!

NBC Sports/Pouliot: Five managers on the hot seat

5. Bud Black (Padres) - Truly a pleasant surprise, San Diego is just four games under .500 despite possessing what looked like baseball’s weakest collection of talent at the beginning of the year. Only the Nationals and Orioles have worse run differentials than the Padres, who have scored 221 runs and given up 271. That Black has coaxed the team to a 26-30 record is quite an achievement. Still, Black is managing a team that is expected to eventually have a new owner in Jeff Moorad. CEO Sandy Alderson is gone, and it seems likely that more changes will come after the year. Black will likely survive the season, but if the Padres opt to go in a different direction at GM over the winter, then they may bring in a new manager as well.

Others - Fredi Gonzalez has my vote for baseball’s worst manager, but the Marlins won’t want to have to pay two managers at once again. … Jerry Manuel’s Mets are playing better lately, so he should be safe unless his mouth gets him in trouble. … A’s manager Bob Geren has plenty of support from good friend Billy Beane and can’t be blamed for assembling baseball’s most injury-prone team.

philly.com: Phillies have bargaining chips in search for pitching

There’s a chance the Phils could get to the postseason with the pitching they have. But they can’t take the chance of coming up short, not with this ripened nucleus of players. And beyond the regular season, the Phils have to think of what their postseason rotation might look like. Having a strong 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation is crucial in the postseason, and the Phils have been weakened by the loss of Brett Myers.

So the Phils are hunting for another pitcher, and from the sound of it, they’re not just looking for an off-the-rack arm. They want someone that will make them better, an upgrade on what they have. Jake Peavy interests them, but he doesn’t want to leave San Diego. The Astros’ Roy Oswalt and the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay would interest the Phils - if their teams were to make them available. Ditto for Erik Bedard, if the Mariners put up the “For Sale” sign.

Justice: What the Astros should look for in their next manager

I don’t care if he’s a statistical genius. If he’s really smart, if he knows what he doesn’t know, he can hire someone to help him with strategy and with managing the pitching staff.

That’s the thing about managing today. There’s so much data out there. If a manager is willing to admit he doesn’t know everything, he can have the right answers at his fingertips.

...If I owned the Astros, I’d hire Sean Berry as manager today. I have no idea if he’d be any good at it, but based on what I know, he might be spectacular. He’d certainly change a bad environment on day one.

He’s really smart and really passionate about the job. He’s one of the first to arrive every day and one of the last to leave. (If I see the current manager be out the door 30-45 minutes after a game again, my head will explode. At least act like you care, buddy. When someone asked Cecil Cooper last year what he liked about managing, he snapped, ‘’The paycheck.’’ Great. Take your paycheck and your anger and go.)

Thanks to Wimsickle.

Gary Carter: Memories from Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS

You can’t call Gary Carter a jerk in the papers and expect to get away with it! As I’m sure signed 8 X 10’s were on there way to the Kerfelds! El pronto!

I was recently asked what I remember about getting the game-winning hit in Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS versus the Astros. I recall a member of the Astros publicly calling me out, which gave me some extra motivation heading into the game. I remember they went on to walk Keith Hernandez to pitch to me, and those kind of situations fire me up, too. I was struggling in the series, hitting around .120, but I ended up with two game-winning hits that were pretty sweet and helped us get the last word.

Charlie Kerfeld called me a jerk in the New York newspapers. I don’t know why because he didn’t know me as a person. A lot of people get misconceptions of other people because of the way they play on the field. Maybe the way I played—with an over-zealous enthusiasm on the field—had something to do with Charlie publicly calling me out. I thought the only way to shut him up was to come back with my bat instead of my mouth. So I did.

Justice: McLane talks of rebuilding

Yeah...just as I once talked of building a latrine tribute to Domina Nocturna.

The Astros are a perfect storm: high payroll, old roster, last-place team. Attendance is down 5 percent from this point last year, and things may get worse before they get better.

That said, the Astros didn’t get to this point overnight, and they won’t be resurrected overnight. There’s just one way out, and McLane apparently gets it.

Perhaps Ed Wade’s greatest accomplishment as general manager is to convince McLane that good franchises are built from the ground up, that there are no real shortcuts.

“We have to make a stronger investment and smarter picks in the draft,” McLane said. “You’ve got to invest in young talent. To do that, you need patience, and that’s hard for me.”

If you’re looking for a reason to be optimistic that the franchise is headed in the right direction, start here.

“From my business training, you want results very quickly,” he said. “That doesn’t always happen in baseball. We spend $4 million to $6 million in the draft every year, but we haven’t always made good decisions.”

baltimoresun.com - Catching Up With … ex-Oriole Jim Gentile

The Oriole hitter with the hurricane swing turns 75 on Wednesday.

Happy birthday, Diamond Jim. What’s the best gift for someone your age?

“To live to be 76,” Jim Gentile said.

In the early 1960s, he was Baltimore’s tempestuous slugger, a fiery first baseman with a whip-like cut that battered the air and roused the crowds, contact or no. Watching Gentile flail was as entertaining as seeing his home runs soar out of Memorial Stadium. Strikeouts begat tantrums, broken bats, smashed water coolers and ejections. But if Gentile’s ire prepared the city for the coming of Earl Weaver, his muscle lay the groundwork for Frank Robinson’s arrival.

Ortiz: Oswalt will not accept trade to Chicago White Sox

Of course not. He’d rarely get to pitch against the Reds.

Although the Chicago White Sox have had a special assistant to the general manager at the Astros’ last two series, you can put an end to any speculation about Roy Oswalt accepting a trade to the White Sox.

Because Bill Scherrer, a special assistant to White Sox GM Kenny Williams, has been at the Astros’ last two series, there has been quite a bit of speculation nationally regarding the possibility of Oswalt landing with the White Sox a few weeks after Oswalt’s good friend Jake Peavy refused a trade to the White Sox.

Oswalt isn’t talking publicly about any trade speculation, but the Chronicle has learned that Oswalt would invoke his no-trade clause if the White Sox attempted to acquire him.

Oswalt has a no-trade clause, and if he ever waived it to go play in Chicago it would be with the Cubs and not the White Sox.

Because of the recent turmoil surrounding Cecil Cooper, some national media, without even talking to Oswalt, have insinuated that he wants out of Houston. One report even claimed Oswalt was upset that the Astros didn’t try to acquire Peavy.

Justice: Time for Astros to fire Cooper may be now

Pulls Devils Advocate: The Art of Coop off shelf...eyes matches. Feels strange warmness in psycho-unity.

So now Cecil Cooper wants accountability. Funny that he chose to start with someone other than himself.

This is the kind of thing a manager does when he’s trying to get fired. Could that be what’s going on here?

Coop never seemed to be having much fun anyway, so maybe he has seen the handwriting on the wall and is trying to speed the process along.

I’ve never understood why he seems so angry, so defensive. He was given the kind of opportunity thousands of baseball men would die for. Yet he never really seemed to embrace the role, never seemed comfortable.

...Cooper didn’t lose his clubhouse with those comments. He’d lost it long before Tuesday, over weeks and weeks, as players lost confidence in him on a variety of levels.

This simply was one more brick in the wall. When a manager calls out a star the way Cooper did Tuesday, players notice.

Houston Chronicle: Solomon: Clubhouse chatter cheap

I’ll live to see you - all of you - hanging from the ugliest choo-choo in the train yard!

Still, Cooper needs to fix this before he finds himself high and Bligh.

Veteran ballplayers can ruin a manager, wreck his reputation and cost him his job. Rarely will they do it publicly. But they’ll underground railroad a guy out of town.

Baseball players are like that.

As you might imagine, Cooper didn’t like hearing that his players might be expressing themselves anonymously.

“Then I say they probably got a problem,” he said. “They need to come and talk to me. That’s what I say to that. They should talk to me. Because if I had an issue with someone, I would talk to that individual. And I would hope that they had enough confidence and feel good enough to come and talk to me.”

For Texas Rangers players, Lone Star Series not a real rivalry

The annual six-game death match between the only two major-league teams in Texas has gone big time, with a fancy name and a coveted sponsor.

The Lone Star Series presented by Chevy — Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, no time limit, steel cage — opens today, today, today with three games featuring mayhem, mayhem, mayhem in Houston and three more next month in Arlington.

Fans will flock to Minute Maid Park and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington during the I-45 (via I-20, I-30, I-35 and U.S. 287) Rivalry, and TV ratings will spike.

But the rivalry talk is met with a collective sense of indifference in the Rangers’ clubhouse.

One player called the marketing-driven, media-hyped rivalry “cute.” Another gave one of those half-laughs that is often followed by, “Yeah, right.”

MLB.com: Astros bat out of order against Brewers

Manager Cecil Cooper changed the batting order for Wednesday’s game, but he apparently forgot to tell the Brewers. Cooper made two switches to his lineup prior to the game—most significantly, flip-flopping Kazuo Matsui and Michael Bourn, with Bourn leading off and Matsui in the two-hole.

Perhaps out of habit, Cooper incorrectly filled out the lineup card, inserting Matsui in the leadoff spot with Bourn hitting second.

Bourn singled against Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo to leadoff the game, but he was quickly called back. Cooper did not move from his seat in the dugout, even as the umpires explained the situation to Cooper and to Bourn. Geoff Blum, standing on the top step in the dugout, called Bourn over and emphatically explained to Bourn what had happened.

Bourn was sent back to the plate to hit again. Matsui, per rule 6:07 of the Major League Baseball rule book, was called out. Catcher Jason Kendall was credited with the putout.

Gary Carter’s Blog: Would we have beaten Mike Scott in Game 7? Yes, we would have found a way

Character wins championships! Correct! I remember Walter Burke once winning a high-priced Santa Anita jockey tourney on Perry Mason...and that convinced me!

Speaking of Mike Scott, I have often been asked if I thought we could have beaten the Astros in Game 7 back in ‘86.

It’s a good question. The character of that Mets team and the way we always battled back would have made it interesting.

Knowing Scott was looming for a Game 7 was big, and having to face him might have written a completely different story. He was dominant in the other two games we faced him, but knowing our team’s character, we would of found a way to win. Anything less than a World Series championship would have been considered a disappointing year.

Houston Chronicle: Ortiz: Cooper leaves himself open to doubts

Ready the non-hygienic Cooper Scooper.

Cooper’s new nickname in the Astros’ clubhouse is Hugo Chavez, whom you all may know is that Fidel Castro wannabe who runs Venezuela. I was informed of that fact yesterday at Wrigley Field, and that was before Cooper’s second-guessing special.

I tried my hardest to find somebody to go on the record - other than Cooper - defending his late-inning decisions. I couldn’t find anybody, although I didn’t check with bench coach Ed Romero, who is on his job because he’s Cooper’s great friend.

I asked first base coach Jose Cruz for a comment, but Cruz politely said, “I just work here.”

Let’s be clear that players win and lose games, but they also have to believe in their manager. For the first time since I described the clubhouse as toxic last year in Baltimore, this visit to Wrigley is the first time when I’ve been approached with so many disgruntled players.

I found that quite shocking, though, because they have won five of their last seven.

How’s the morale going to be if they go on another long losing streak?

Holy Taco: 8 Most Hypocritical Christian Athletes

Baseballers taking 4 of the 8 spots, with one each from basketball, boxing, NASCAR, and football.

6. Carl Everett

HOW MUCH HE LOVES HIS JESUS: So much so that he says that dinosaur bones are man made fakes and dinosaurs never existed because they’re not in the bible. “God created the sun, the stars, the heavens and the earth, and then made Adam and Eve. The Bible never says anything about dinosaurs.” But, the bible apparently says plenty about being gay because Carl gave us this profound thought on homosexuality “Gays being gay is wrong.” Aside from that sentence being some kind of retarded logic puzzle, it leads me to believe that if someone could prove there were gay dinosaurs, Carl’s head might explode.

WHY JESUS HATES HIM: I can¹t say for certain but I¹m pretty sure Jesus frowns upon beating your child. In 1997, Everett and his wife Linda were charged with abusing their two children, Shawna and Carl IV. The chargers were later dropped, but the Judge ordered the kids to live with their grandmother for fear of their safety.

Carl Everett, Andy Pettitte, Curt Schilling, female reporters in locker rooms, adultery, child support, and misguided evangelical opinions about Judaism all in an on-topic thread?  That’ll be check and mate, Mr. Repoz.

Wrigleyville 23: Houston Media Making Excuses Again

With the Sean Berry situation?

This in no way is to make light of a member of the Astros coaching staff possibly having cancer, but the Astros media is playing the “not mentally prepared to play baseball” card again:

Mike Hampton didn’t want to make excuses, and neither did Ivan Rodriguez. Yet, shortly after batting coach Sean Berry announced he had a potentially cancerous tumor in his right kidney, the Astros’ battery seemed out of it at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night.

Rodriguez, a near lock for the Hall of Fame, was jumpy, anxious, on edge, as one might expect after a colleague delivered devastating news. Hampton fell behind 4-0 in the first, and the Chicago Cubs were already cruising to a 6-3 victory before he settled down before a crowd of 29,415. ...

“We’ve gone through four or five days that have been really tough for us, travel days and long days at the ballpark,” manager Cecil Cooper said. “Cannot make excuses. We still got to go out and play. But it was difficult to get the news about Sean.”

The point is that the Houston media just needs to stop with the nonsense. The result of Wednesday’s game simply can’t be tied to Sean Berry’s medical news, even more than the ‘08 Astros inability to get a hit off of Carlos Zambrano could be blamed on the weather.

mlb.com: Francoeur homers to power victory vs. Astros, Hampton

ATLANTA—Omar Infante enjoyed another productive performance in the leadoff role and Jeff Francoeur proved to be a capable cleanup hitter while making sure that Mike Hampton didn’t experience a memorable return to Turner Field.

Francoeur soured Hampton’s homecoming with a two-run first-inning homer and Infante further damaged it with a two-run single that highlighted the four-run fifth inning that put away a 7-2 win over the Astros on Friday night.

Derek Lowe limited the Astros to two runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings and won his first home start of the season. Hampton, who was with the Braves from 2002-08, was charged with six runs—five earned—and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Footer: On Erstad, Brocail, Berkman and Sampson

And Duncer and Blitzen.

Cecil Cooper was planning for a while to play Darin Erstad in right field and rest Hunter Pence on Thursday, but he admitted he had second thoughts after Pence homered and doubled during the previous night’s game with the Dodgers. In the end, Cooper decided to stick with his original plan.

“It takes guts to take [Pence] out after last night,” Cooper said. “I hope [the fans] don’t boo me tonight.”

The decision was more about Erstad than Pence. Erstad had only 10 at-bats heading into this game and no starts.

“We need to get Erstad a start,” Cooper said. “That’s the reason we’re doing it. He needs to get four at-bats, or three at-bats in a game so he can feel comfortable. When a guy gets that, he usually starts to feel better. Then, when we use him in key situations, he’s ready.”